MFT WSC2- better late than never ;)

hello again! this past week, MFT's Wednesday Stamp Club offered up another amazing sketch challenge! Please join in & play along- it's never too late!

i needed a card for my nephew's upcoming 7th birthday (does anyone know where the heck the time goes- sheesh!) and this sketch was just what i needed to get it done! i just love how it turned out. it was totally inspired by the dozens of amazing cards my fellow MFT friends & fans have been uploading to the MFT WSC galleries on SplitcoastStampers (search for MFTWSC1, MFTWSC2,etc..)- totally rockin!!

if you don't have this stamp set- it's great for ALL the kids in your life (young & old!!)-it's MFT's Little Loveosaurus. i am a huge fan of Clarie Keay's (ENABLER ALERT: her Etsy shop is: jellypark). Clarie's digi's and paintings are uber cute and i'm hoping MFT will keep releasing more of her adorable images as stamps! i so <3 'em!

please click images to enlarge them!




The sentiments are part of this cute set too, and MFT's dies made embellishing this one so easy & fun- i can't make ANY project anymore without pulling out several of these awesome dies- i so LOVE LOVE 'em!!




thanks so much for looking! it's only like 7:30 but i'm off to bed- i'm desperately trying to fend off a really nasty viral cold & cough that my daughter has had for the past 11 days--ugh! i'm so sick of being sick this year (one of the joys of young kiddos, right?!)

here's the deets:
stamps: MFT's Little Loveosaurus
ink: Tim Holtz' Distress Ink-Clear Embossing Ink Pad, Memento Tuxedo Black, Cat's Eye Lipstick Red
paper: MFT's X-Press It Blending cardstock, MFT's cardstocks in Wild Cherry, Berrylicious (both are temp sold out), Sassafrass Lass patterned paper (Monstrosity line), Bazzill (raven black)
accessories: MFT Die-namics (Star Border, Stacking Stars), Nesties (Circle & Small Labels), American Crafts Zing! Embossing powder (Opaque/Powder blue), Jody's dimensionals and sticky dots , ivory linen thread (TCP), best glue ever (MFT)

see ya soon!
{{GIANT HUGS}}
-g
^o^

Happy 2011/MFT WSC1

hi & happy new year! hope this post finds you well! we are back from an amazing New Year's weekend in the deep snow. we went to Bryan Head, UT- MAN i am SO glad we don't live in the frosty freezy-freeze cold anymore (we grew up in Maryland)- but it sure was great fun to visit Utah! it was our daughter's first real snow trip- so we went sledding, snowshoeing and tubing at the slopes. we enjoyed tons of hot cocoa and made snow angels & a mini snowman too! the hubs enjoyed some snowboarding & i had a blast in the hip-deep powder playing with my family! here's a couple quick shots i took of where we stayed-the Grand Lodge at Byran Head- it was so pretty! i'll post more pics as i download & edit them!

please click images to enlarge them



school started again last week, but of course, my daughter caught a bad cold/cough (such timing i tell ya!) so i kept her home for a couple of days- but even a sickie kiddo couldn't stop me from enjoying some Wednesday Stamp Club fun!

This year, MFT's WSC will have a weekly sketch to help make it easier for everyone to play! i LOVE LOVE the MFT DT sketches- they always rock- so i had to jump in! You can find all the deets and play along in this post on the MFT blog. PLEASE play with us- everyone is so fun & friendly at MFT!! You can find the MFT forum on Splitcoast too- if you're not a Splitcoast member, sign up- the inspo & resources are amazing!

OK- on to the stamping! here's my first card. i stuck to the sketch with this one and made a super fun valentine using MFT's Game Night Spinner Die & Stamp Set Duo & MFT's You Spin Me (additional stamps for teh Game Night set). the sketch helped this one come together so quickly! & the spinner really spins on this one- super cool right?!



please click images to enlarge them

here's a look at the inside- simple but finished:


deets:
stamps: MFT's You Spin Me (Addtions for Game Night)
paper: MFT fossil scalloped notecard, MFT pink bubblegum, hot fudge and wild cherry cardstocks, Bo Bunny patterned papers (crazy love collection)
ink: CTMH Holiday Red
accessories: MFT Die-Namics: Game Night Spinner Die & Stamp set duo, MFT Die-Namics Scalloped Scallop, cuttlebug embossing folder, tim holtz sprocket gear, tim holtz long fastener, martha stewart heart punch, jody's awesome boosters, glossy accents, corner rounder


i was so excited about this sketch, i made a second card! i've had this little PI cutie colored & all cut out just sitting on my desk for sometime, so i finally put her on a card! i thought it would be cute to have it rain candy hearts. i will totally be using this fab sketch again & again!


click images to enlarge them

here's the inside of this one:


deets:
stamps: MFT's My Umbrella (Pure Innocence)- temp sold out, MFT's You Spin Me (Addtions for Game Night)
paper: MFT fossil scalloped notecard, MFT's pink bubblegum, fossil and wild cherry cardstocks, cosmo cricket patterned paper (the boyfriend collection), sei pattern paper
ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, CTMH ink pads in: holiday red, spring iris, honey, bubblegum, spring breeze
accessories: MFT Die-Namics: cloud trio (temp sold out), hearts a plenty, button quartet, layered label, copic markers, cuttlebug embossing folder, glossy accents, TCP linen thread, jenni bowlin valentine mini bingo card, martha stewart silver metallic mini ink pad (silver lining on clouds), quickie glue pen, jody's awesome boosters.

thanks so much for looking!
{{GIANT HUGS}}
-g
^o^

MFTWSC DressUp/i {heart} embellie gellie!

click photos to enlarge

MFT's Wednesday Stamp Club theme for this week is let's play dress up! find all the info & awesome inspiration in this post on the MFT blog!

i am still LOVIN' inking up my MFT tiny town halloween set- the images are just so cute and color up so FAST (good for when you have a ton of halloween cards & projects to make!)

side track/note: my fun Halloween star decoration made for last week's WSC, that used this same stamp set, won the gift certificate prize- YAY! my daughter & i were so thrilled & excited! You can bet we're so gonna spend it quick on some fab new MFT goodies releasing later this week!! YIPPEEE! thanks to Kim for offering such great weekly challenges & fab prizes. LOVE LOVE MY MFT!!

do you see all those teeny 3mm rhinestones on the card? i used a new product MFT is selling called Embellie Gellie to pick each gem up & place it on my card exactly where i wanted it. i think it's the first time i had 0 frustration and 0 lost tiny gems! LOL! You have to have some of this stuff- it's like magic! seems like one package will last forever too! love it!

here's the deets and some more pics:
stamps: MFT's tiny town halloween
sentiments are from MFT's Trick or Treat with Who's That Girl
ink: memento tuxedo black, memento paris dusk (accent ink)
papers: MFT cardstocks in Sour Apple and Orange Fizz; card base is an MFT black scalloped notecard (from a past MFT kit); Bazzill purple and Raven cardstocks, pp is Cosmo Cricket (Matilda paper pad)
accessories: copic markers, 3mm topaz rhinestones (from Pizzazz APlenty), best glue ever, Jody's awesome dimensional boosters

the tiny images are popped up- here's more pics:
click pics to enlarge




thanks for looking! hope you're having a great start to the week!
{{GIANT HUGS}}
-g
^o^

MFTWSC092210-Boo Time!

please click images to enlarge them!



WooHoo! another week is flying by and this week's MFT Wednesday Stamp Club had another fun challenge! This week- it was to make a scene- find all the details here & play along!! we are in full halloween card & decor making time at my house- and it is fun FUN!

i picked up these metal stars at the local Target dollar spot not long ago & when the WSC challenge 'to make a scene' came up this week- it was a perfect opportunity to embellish one of these babies!!

i LOVE this new MFT set- Tiny Town Halloween- it is perfect for scene making & little treat bags!

here's some close ups & a look at all the dimension:
please click images to enlarge






details:
stamps: MFT Tiny Town Halloween

paper: Gina K 80lb pure luxury white cardstock, bazzill cardstocks (purple & orange) pp is cosmo cricket (matilda paper pad)

ink: memento tuxedo black, tim holtz distress ink in stormy sky

accessories: copic markers, nesties, cuttlebug embossing folder, MFT dienamics (cloud trio and star border), ribbons (are from the TE fright night project kit), MFT felt, Jody's awesome boosters, pinking scissors, best glue ever, wide purple ribbon is from my stash (roll bought at Michael's over a year ago LOL!)

thanks so much for looking! i so hope you'll play along too!!
{{GIANT HUGS}}
-g
^o^

ps- my cold has turned into full on tonsillitis- so i'm trying not to talk much as i'm super horse & scary sounding LOL! i haven't been to the gym for my morning cardio for 10 days now but it'll be there when i'm feeling better, right?!
i have to share a super sweet pic of my daughter looking especially cute & ready for her day today:

i LOVE it when she let's me give her piggytails but they never stay in for long, sigh! she totally LOVES her new halloween decoration too :)

MFT WSC9.15-Seeing Stars!

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MFT has another awesome Wednesday Stamp Club challenge up this week- it's all about stars- find all the details in this post & play along! i've been sick since last week, but i had to play along with this fun theme!

here's a close up taken in the sun so the color's a little better:


i don't have the star nesties...yet ;) so i made my own stars in illustrator, printed, cut them & then traced onto cardstocks. the jpg's are below if you might need some stars too.
note to self- next time draw shapes in Make the Cut and have my cricut do the work for me- DOH!!


i had fun making my own patterned paper with the tiny T-Rex image from MFT's Wyatt and His Wagon- you can't help but make the 'rawr' noise each time you stamp him (hope it's not just me!!).

my MFT dies, cork, felt & adornments made embellishing this card easy and the dies always work great! i glued on a toothpick to turn the MFT banner die shape into a pennant flag!

i have a 7 year old nephew and a big-kid hubs ;) who would love this one- gonna have to flip a coin to see who gets it!

deets:
Stamps: MFT's Wyatt and His Wagon, the RAWR sentiment on the flag is from MFT's Little Loveosaurus
Ink: Memento tuxedo black, Memento Rich cocoa
Paper: MFT cardstocks in Jellybean Green, Sour Apple and Wild Cherry; GinaK 80lb white pure luxury, Basic Grey PP (basics white paper pad)
Accessories: copic markers, krylon gold leafing pen, MFT Die-Namics: Banner Day die, Jumbo Ric Rac Die and Star Border die. MFT princess pearls (black), MFT cork, MFT felt, dimensionals, colored pencil, toothpick, Best Ever white glue (temp sold out at MFT.)

Here's the JPG star files for you- right click the images & save them to your computer:
smaller stars for decorating:

card base shape:


thanks for looking- i'm off for more tea- cross your fingers that i don't lose my voice- it's been a rough few days already!
Please join in the WSC fun with us if you get a chance- i'd love to see your creations too!
{{GIANT HUGS}}
-g
^0^

EDIT: OOPS! so sorry, i forgot a look at the inside (told you i was under the weather!) here ya go:

WSC8410-another fun sketch!

it's the first week of a new month (who can even believe it's August already?!) which means MFT's WSC has another great sketch challenge posted by Cindy & Frances-Yippeee! i LOVE their sketches! they are so inspiring i often find myself using them in tons of other projects- you gotta give them a try! You can find all the details this post on SCS. FUN as always!! i rotated & flipped this one to fit my image- hope you'll play along!

i just LOVE these new á la mode cling stamps from MFT- this one is so sweet & sassy with her camera! i had some fun 12x12 strip scraps with the polaroid on it (cosmo cricket, the boyfriend line)- just screamed for this one! i kept this one super simple so the image could take the spotlight. this one will even fit in a regular A2 envelope- that's very rare for me LOL! the sketch pulled this one together in no time and i think it turned out way cute!

here's a closer look at the coloring and the inside:

click images to enlarge


i just love the sentiments included in this set too!

here's the deets:
stamps: MFT á la modes Picture Perfect
ink: memento tuxedo black, catseye dark brown (edging around image), catseye lipstick red (edging around punched sentiment)
paper: MFT fossil scalloped notecard (base), ginaK pure luxury heavyweight cardstock, patterned papers are all cosmo cricket (the boyfriend line)
accessories: copic markers, 1.25" scalloped circle punch (EK success), dimensionals

in other news- dd was back at pediatrician this week for a bad case of swimmer's ear on the other side! our first 10 days back from vaca she was on amox and drops for her other ear- poor thing can't swim for ANOTHER full week (& this kiddo lives in the pool!) we'll be traveling to MI for Grams 90th birthday party next weekend and then back to school will be in full swing- we start full day kindergarten in 2 weeks!

thanks so much for looking!
hope you've had a great weekend!
{{GIANT HUGS}}
-g
^o^

MFT WSC519 WaterBaby

click image to enlarge

hello everyone- it's been a while since i've posted here! i've been very sick with bad allergies and a terrible headcold for almost 3 weeks! feel like i might be turning the corner this morning- but it's windy and cold again today so we'll see how we do (please think good thoughts- it's been really awful!)

MFT's WSC for last week was to watercolor an image- i'd never done that before (other than played a little with some pencils and blender pen- but that's not a water brush!) coincidentally, i had also ordered some ingredients to start experimenting with homemade bath bombs. the idea for a cute bath set hit me the moment i saw my brand new Pure Innocence cutie from MFT- this one is Lather Rinse Repeat- isn't she just adorable in her tub of bubbles?! you gotta love that sweet rubber ducky too! ca-ute!

all i had on hand was a Strathmore watercolor pad so i stamped the image on a piece of that using Brilliance graphite black ink. i used clear embossing powder over the ink and heat set it well to ensure my watercolors wouldn't run the image. it really worked great! i made a few of these to have some extras on hand.

i had a set of Winsor & Newton watercolors that i got on sale at dick blick years ago (the little tiny half cakes in a box-it was around $10 for the set and comes with mixing wells and a brush) i dug those out & got to work mixing & coloring. i have to say i was hesitant to put the first swatches of color down, but then i just let go & started to play and not worry about it (you can always stamp off and emboss more!) the process was relaxing and fun and it forced me not to rush things. very zen. very cool. totally give it a go!

here's a closer view:

click image to enlarge


this card is straightforward but some things to note:
i used a ticket corner punch (SU) on the image & on the mat.
patterned paper is by Basic Grey (kioshi line)
i popped up the little ducky in his puddle that i had painted separately.
i used an MFT Fossil note card for the base, and some MFT glittered garnishes for embellies. Ribbon is from MFT too.

here's the inside:
just a simple white emboss of the sentiment.

click image to enlarge

the bath bomb bag is an MFT gusset bag
i cut a label with my nesties, and stamped the same PI image using a light brown ink for a lightly colored 'watermark' effect:

click image to enlarge

the back of the label has some instructions and the sweet ducky image from the same stamp set.
the instructions i simply typed up (i used the Cheri font it's a free download) and printed out & added to the bag:


click image to enlarge

if you're looking for supplies or starter kits, try Bramble Berry

Bath Bomb Recipe
ingredients:
1 part citric acid
2 parts baking soda
fragrance if desired (i used an oil blend)
colorant if desired (i used lilac la bomb colorant- it's an fd&c based dye in a glycerin base)
witch hazel in a spray bottle (you need several spritzes)
something to mold with- ice cube trays, plastic easter eggs, plastic ornament molds or soap/candle making molds, sand molds- anything!

directions:
mix the citric acid & baking soda thoroughly in a large bowl.
sprinkle fragrance (i used .5oz for 1 lb. citric acid/2 lb. baking soda-see note below*) over dry ingredients and mix well.
add colorant and mix well (to your liking- i used a quarter of the small bottle of colarant) again.

here's the tricky part:
while stirring the mixture spritz some witch hazel over the bowl- like 6 pumps or so and incorporate it well. you don't want to dump in a bunch of liquid or it will start fizzing on you. just a light spritz at a time, 6 times in a row. i needed about 4 sets of short pumps to get the mixture to clump together & hold it's shape in my hand- it will vary based on your temp/humidity. basically if you pick it up and can mold it in your hand like damp beach sand you're done- start packing it into your mold right away. over fill the mold, press it together (if using the ball ornament mold) let it sit a minute or two, then release the mold (one side at a time on the ball mold- gently tap & lift off one end of the mold, then the other) set to dry on some wax paper for about 2-3 hours.
enjoy!

* fragrance note: these were HIGHLY scented bombs- truth is they came out too strong for us and too big! i've been breaking them into quarters & using just a small piece at a time! still works great- just don't get the pieces wet when you break them up!

also- i don't recommend using these for young kids- fragrance free ones would be ok, but lots of fragrance or certain types of oils can cause some stinging in little eyes or in any little scrapes or cuts!

whew- that was a bit longwinded eh?! lol! thanks for hanging in there!
need to take more meds & make a quick thank you note before school is out today! hope to be back soon!
{{GIANT HUGS}}
^o^
-g

WSC 4.28.10-just in time!

please click images to enlarge.

hi again! this week's WSC is all about KISS (Keep It Super Simple!)-all the deets are on this MFT blog post and boy did this one ever come in handy!
i need to have 45 Mother's Day cards finished & delivered to the state Veteran's home by next weekend so they can be distributed to all of the wonderful ladies on Sunday! could never happen without a super simple card-especially since this week kicked off with an extremely stressful start! anyway- these are little cards that pack a lot of heart- i really wanted each veteran Mom to have something special that she could display and not have it take up much room (the residents have a hospital room set up, with 2 people per room and a shared bathroom)- a little 3x3 inch card seemed just perfect.

i used MFT's heavyweight cardstocks in bubblegum, snocone, banana split and sour apple for the bases. all the scraps from making the bases were cut using the new fantastic MFT DieNamics scalloped scallop die with the cuttlebug--oh how i loved using up all those scraps & man i am LOVIN' this die & can't wait to order the others at the big release party tomorrow night (from 5-7pm Pacific Time--please come hang out with the whole MFT gang & my fellow junkies on the MFT forum at SCS) i was lucky enough to get this die in a VIP kit i ordered a couple of weeks ago! so so cool!
anyway- i used some of my favorite Scenic Route patterned papers for backgrounds. i stamped a beautiful sentiment from MFT's Clearly Sentimental about Mothers onto creme perfect paper panels and cut them out. i inked the edges with a soft blue cat's eye ink, punched a hole in each sentiment strip with the good 'ol crop-o-dile and tied a small ribbon knot. 2 sweet MFT glittered garnishes finish off each card (i LOVE these and will be refilling my stash immediately- i panic that i will run out LOL!) super simple and easy to 'assembly line'.


The inside is finished off with the sentiment from another fave MFT set- Mother's Day (digi only available here)-you'll see more of this set later this week as i'm using it for another card
i have only a few more left of these minis to finish off and they'll be ready to deliver!
thanks for looking!
{{GIANT HUGS}}
-g
^o^